(Almaty, Kazakhstan — January 19, 2026) In Kazakhstan, a short phrase written on a protest placard and shared on social media, “Trump, please pay attention to Kazakhstan” has become the pretext for a nationwide campaign of intimidation, police pressure, and legal harassment carried out in a gray zone of administrative power.
Over the past week, multiple members of the civil society group Atajurt have been summoned by police, threatened, detained, or forced to delete online content for disseminating or expressing support for this slogan.
The phrase was first publicly articulated by prominent human rights activist Serikzhan Bilash on YouTube, where he called on the international community to pay attention to Kazakhstan’s deteriorating human rights situation, particularly the issue of Kazakh citizens arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities.
Peaceful Expression Treated as “Problematic Speech”
Kazakhstan’s sensitivity toward public protest and political expression has once again been laid bare. Last year, authorities arrested 19 individuals who took part in a peaceful demonstration condemning China’s arbitrary detention of a Kazakh truck driver in Xinjiang. The broader context involves the mass detention of ethnic Kazakhs in China’s Xinjiang region, a topic that remains politically taboo inside Kazakhstan.
Although officials have failed to specify which law the slogan violates, law enforcement agencies across multiple regions have carried out nearly simultaneous pressure campaigns, treating the phrase as speech that is politically dangerous.
International Reaction and Evidence of Transnational Pressure
The international response has been swift and unusually explicit. Several global media outlets reported that Kazakhstan’s investigation of Atajurt members directly followed diplomatic protests from Beijing, reinforcing concerns about China’s growing influence over the political space of neighboring countries.
On January 15, during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Deputy Staff Director Piero Tozzi stated bluntly that the case was not about maintaining public order in Kazakhstan, but rather about the Chinese Communist Party’s expanding long-arm jurisdiction.
He described China’s response to a symbolic protest as “extreme and disproportionate,” warning that Beijing is exporting its domestic repression beyond its borders.
On the same day, Human Rights Watch issued a statement urging Kazakh authorities to end the persecution and immediately release those detained. To date, these calls have gone unheeded.
Arbitrary Enforcement Across the Country
At the local level, law enforcement actions have been marked by arbitrariness and intimidation: January 16 — Talgar District: Police contacted Atajurt member Galym Rakizhan, demanding he delete related social media posts and promising that “no further action” would be taken if he complied. When he asked which law he had violated, the police ordered him to report to the station without presenting any official summons. Officers later visited his parents’ home, claiming his speech had “damaged the village’s reputation.”
January 13 — Kyzylorda: An administrative official, accompanied by two police officers, visited Atajurt member Gulnaz Serikbayeva, accusing her of “inciting the public” based on comments left by others on her Facebook video.
Mangystau Region: Esberdi Asauov was ordered to appear at a police station and warned he would be forcibly brought in if he failed to comply.
Turkistan Region: Bagdat Togysbayev, who posed for a photo holding the slogan, was detained for five days — officially for failing to pay an earlier fine.
January 17 — Astana and Karaganda: Police demanded that Nurbek Kazbay and Bekzat Suleimenov delete related content, hinting at administrative penalties or more severe consequences if they refused.
Serikzhan Bilash stated that the authorities’ disproportionate reaction to citizens merely holding a sign asking the U.S. president for attention exposes the government’s extremely limited tolerance for free expression.
He categorically denied claims circulated by some media outlets alleging that he had called for the capture or harm of Kazakhstan’s president, calling such allegations deliberate fabrications.
On January 19, Bilash’s Facebook account was permanently removed following mass reporting campaigns, with no appeals mechanism available.
As Atajurt members continue to face intimidation across multiple regions, observers say this campaign, centered on a single, peaceful political appeal, has become a litmus test for how rapidly freedom of expression is contracting in Kazakhstan.
What began as a symbolic plea — “Trump, please pay attention to Kazakhstan” — now stands as a stark illustration of how cross-border political pressure and authoritarian solidarity can turn ordinary speech into grounds for repression.